TL;DR — Key Takeaways
- OpenAI has secured roughly $11 billion in new funding at a $1.25 trillion valuation, according to Bloomberg.
- The company reduced its fundraising goal from at least $30 billion to as much as $20 billion amid a selloff in AI-related stocks.
- OpenAI recorded a $20.9 billion operating loss in 2025, while high infrastructure costs and obstacles to data center construction continue to complicate its expansion.
OpenAI has secured roughly $11 billion in new funding at a $1.25 trillion valuation, Bloomberg reported Friday, closing the first part of a fundraising round after scaling back its original ambitions.
The company initially sought at least $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation, but has since reduced its plans to raise up to $20 billion, according to Bloomberg. The report said additional funding could be completed in the coming weeks, but OpenAI has not publicly confirmed the $11 billion closing or the revised $20 billion fundraising goal. Bloomberg attributed the reduced expectations to a selloff in AI-related stocks as investors questioned the scale of spending on data centers and other infrastructure.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that OpenAI had secured approximately $11 billion in investor commitments. Bloomberg’s latest reporting indicates that the money has now been transferred to the company. OpenAI declined to comment, and the investors behind the new funding were not identified.
Even after the reduction, OpenAI’s new valuation is roughly 47% higher than it was in March, when the company raised $122 billion in committed capital at an $852 billion valuation. Investors in that round included Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank and Microsoft.
The financing could be important given the scale of OpenAI’s spending commitments. Although the company continues to report rapid revenue growth, developing new models and expanding its computing capacity require substantial investment. According to audited financial statements obtained earlier this year, OpenAI generated $13.1 billion in revenue in 2025, while recording $19.2 billion in research and development expenses and an operating loss of approximately $20.9 billion.
Yet money is only one constraint on OpenAI’s expansion. Rising electricity demand and local opposition are complicating plans for new AI data centers. This week, the company introduced a Grid Protectors program meant to reduce the power its future campuses would draw during periods of heavy grid demand.
OpenAI also outlined new commitments for facilities it already owns and operates, including paying electricity and grid infrastructure costs, disclosing water and power consumption and ending most nondisclosure agreements with public officials. Delays in securing power and approvals for new data centers could complicate the deployment of billions of dollars in planned infrastructure investment for the company.
In a CNBC interview Friday, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said the company would continue investing in data centers and raising capital. Friar pushed back on suggestions that the company has decreased its fundraising ambitions and said business grew 70% from the second to the third quarter, with enterprise demand doubling.
